Names of New York: Discovering the City's Past, Present, and Future Through Its Place-Names

by Joshua Jelly-Schapiro

"A casually wondrous experience; it made me feel like the city was unfolding beneath my feet.” —Jia Tolentino, author of Trick Mirror

In place-names lie stories. That’s the truth that animates this fascinating journey through the names of New York City’s streets and parks, boroughs and bridges, playgrounds and neighborhoods.

Exploring the power of naming to shape experience and our sense of place, Joshua Jelly-Schapiro traces the ways in which native Lenape, Dutch settlers, British invaders, and successive waves of immigrants have left their marks on the city’s map. He excavates the roots of many names, from Brooklyn to Harlem, that have gained iconic meaning worldwide. He interviews the last living speakers of Lenape, visits the harbor’s forgotten islands, lingers on street corners named for ballplayers and saints, and meets linguists who study the estimated eight hundred languages now spoken in New York.

As recent arrivals continue to find new ways to make New York’s neighborhoods their own, the names that stick to the city’s streets function not only as portals to explore the past but also as a means to reimagine what is possible now.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

256 pages, Hardcover

Published April 13, 2021

About the author

Joshua Jelly-Schapiro is a geographer and writer whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, the New York Review of Books, the New York Times, and Harper's magazine, among many other publications. Among his books is Names of New York, Island People, and (with Rebecca Solnit) Nonstop Metropolis: A New York City Atlas. He is a scholar-in-residence at the Institute for Public Knowledge at NYU, where he also teaches.

Reviews

[Natalie]

Such a great read for all of us loving NYhistory I’m a nerd and a history buff and loved reading this book. Wish I had all this in my arsenal when I taught Social Studies in a NYC school.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

[Jeannine]

I do not live in New York City, am not a city person at all, but enjoyed this book very much anyway. I found it entertaining and informative. The author is well-versed in many areas--not only geography and history, but music, literature, food, and much else. I have but one complaint: I'm getting on in years, and my short-term memory isn't great. By the time I got through some of those run-on sentences, I'd forgotten the beginnings. My favorite name of all is Mr. Jelly-Schapiro's own.

I'm looking forward to reading Island People next.

[Casey]

This book will be of interest in anyone who has an interest in the history of New York City. The author covers a large number of areas around the city and how they came about to have the names that they do. His writing style is engaging and humorous at times. Overall, a very enjoyable read.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook page.

[Jeff G]

A very informative book. Living in New York City, you often pass by these streets and parks and wonder where the names came from. Well, this book answers those questions and more! The only complaint I have is sometimes politics are brought up in something that they aren’t necessary in. However, it’s still a great read that provides a ton of information and covers the many eras that have made New York so great!

[Kel]

I don't know how to say this but I feel like I can't remember anything I read about the names I learned in the book - it just feels a little too busy. Also the author does not seem to understand what the word "gringo" means - but sure seems keen on using it.

I guess I just wanted this book to be more than it was.

[Alicia Helbeck]

3.5 stars - definitely entertaining, but I felt like it covered too many places... giving some places more depth and explanation than others (as well as discussing other places named for the same people/things in other cities)

[DW Rowlands]

This was a short, but fairly interesting, narrative of the origins of place names in New York City, with chapters focusing on different sorts of name origins, such as Native American names, subdivision names given by developers, street names, and so on.